Egypt orders detention of prominent activist

Associated Press

February 12, 2018Updated: February 12, 2018 7:53am

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian rights lawyer says the country's prosecutors have ordered the detention for 15 days of a prominent activist pending investigations into charges that include joining a terrorist group and disseminating fake news.

Mokhtar Mounir told The Associated Press on Monday that police forces have arrested Mohamed el-Kassas, the deputy head of the Egyptian opposition party Misr al-Qawia, four days ago and raided his home in Cairo.

He said el-Kassas is held in solitary confinement in Cairo's sprawling Tora Prison complex. No trial date has been set.

It is the latest in a crackdown on opposition overseen by President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi who led the military's 2013 ouster of Egypt's first freely elected leader, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi. The crackdown has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of dissidents.